Chapter 2 - The Girl in the Mirror.

That night, Maplewood was not sleeping.

The trees stood still. The air was heavy. Even the moon seemed to hide behind clouds.

The news of the dead man spread like wildfire.

Everyone had one question:

Who was he?

Mrs. Pinto couldn’t stop shaking. She had lived in Maplewood her whole life. Never saw a dead body before.

“I saw him this morning,” she kept saying. “He passed the shop. I thought he was just a traveler.”

But no one knew him. No one had seen his face before.

No family came forward. No phone rang to ask about him. Nothing.

Inside the police station, Officer Veer sat with a cold cup of tea.

He looked tired. Confused. Angry.

He opened the little note again.

“Sorry.”

Why would a dead man leave a note like that? Was he guilty of something? Or was someone else guilty?

Veer looked through the CCTV footage from the park.

But the video was broken. Static. No help at all.

He felt like the answers were hiding… laughing at him.

That’s when he made the call.

He dialed a number from a special file marked:

“In case of unusual crimes.”

Far away in the city, Monika picked up.

“This is Officer Veer,” he said. “From Maplewood.”

“I know,” Monika replied calmly. “You found a body with a red scarf. I saw the photo.”

“You… did?” Veer was surprised.

“I’ll be there in the morning,” she said, and hung up.

While that call happened, in a small house near the edge of town, a girl named Reeva sat on her bed. Her eyes were wide open. Her fingers were cold.

She had seen something.

That morning, she had skipped class and gone to the park to take photos of butterflies. She loved photography. She wanted to become a wildlife photographer one day.

But instead of butterflies… she saw a man in a red scarf.

He was alive then. Sitting on the bench. Talking to someone.

Reeva hid behind a tree.

She saw the other person — tall, dark coat, and something shiny near their face. Maybe a scar?

She didn’t see the face clearly. But she saw the scarf being pulled — gently. Almost like a warning.

Then Reeva ran. She was scared. She thought it was just a fight.

Now that man was dead.

And she had said nothing.

She looked into her mirror.

Her own face looked pale. Weak.

She whispered, “Should I go to the police? But… what if they don’t believe me? What if the other person saw me?”

Suddenly, her phone buzzed.

A message. From a number she didn’t know.

“You saw something. Stay quiet. If you speak, you’ll regret it.”

Reeva gasped. She dropped the phone.

Tears filled her eyes.

But then… her fear turned into fire.

She opened her sketchbook and drew what she saw.

The red scarf man…

And beside him, the shadow with a scar.

The next morning, Monika would arrive.

And Reeva knew one thing:

She had to talk to her.

Because Monika wasn’t just a detective.

She was hope.

🧩 To be continued in Chapter 3: “Footprints and Fingerprints”

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